7.8.13 Meeting with the support group

Duration: 

30 – 40 min

Aim: 

Participants become acquainted with the procedure of the meeting with the support group.

Materials:

Flipcharts No. 16, 17, 18.

Instruction for implementation:

The facilitators explain the procedure (Flipchart No. 16) of the second step of the NBA:

The teacher greets each student personally and tries to create a positive atmosphere by asking some general questions (but not too long), then leads to the topic of the meeting, stressing that they are here because he/she needs their help. Then the teacher points out how the affected student is doing (no use of the word bullying, no blame) stating that a member of the class is having a very hard time. The teacher has to be prepared that this is the first difficult moment since the bullying protagonists might start to defend themselves or even accuse the affected student that it is his/her own fault. It is best, to stay calm and continue the discussion in a future – oriented manner (the NBA aims at changing behavior patterns in a positive way instead of looking back and analyzing misbehavior in the past).

Flipchart No. 17

After the description of the problem the teacher focusses on his/her personal concern then turns to the students as “experts” who can help. It is helpful to think beforehand of a personal skill of each student. What is mentioned should not be superficial or too general but something “authentic”.

Flipchart No. 18

The teacher asks each member of the support group to come up with ideas what he/she can personally do to improve the situation of X. Here ideas like: “I´ll walk home with her/him.” or “I will invite him/her to spend time with me,” might be mentioned and will be appreciated by the teacher.It is sufficient if the protagonist declares that he/she will stop bothering the affected student. In case of cyber bullying, it is mandatory to delete the insulting message/film/website.